Major Spoilers Ahead
The Low Down: Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams) is in Harlem where he and Daughter Maitland (Margot Bingham) both await the arrival of Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright), so their fates can be decided. Nucky (Steve Buscemi) drowns his sorrows over the death of Sally (Patricia Arquette). Van Alden (Michael Shannon) and Eli (Shea Whigham) head to Capone’s (Stephen Graham) in order to steal the ledgers the FBI needs. In the world of flashbacks — we see Nucky with a pregnant Mabel. Also, we’re introduced to a young Gillian.
No one goes quietly.
It’s the Season 5 tagline for Boardwalk Empire and of the taglines the Atlantic City-centric show has created since its inception in 2009, none has fit so perfectly.
“Devil You Know,” the sixth episode in the show’s final season, played like three separate, yet intertwined tales (of men not going down quietly) all told in the same book of short stories. Imagine an O. Henry collection — but filled with blood and bullets.
Story #1: The Redemption of Nelson Van Alden
Nelson Van Alden (Shannon) has been one of the most intriguing characters in the series – from both an actual character perspective and how he’s been used in the series. When we first met Van Alden, he was a bible-beating, fire and brimstone Treasury agent, hellbent on the destruction of Nucky Thompson. By Season 2, his moral armor was made up of nothing but chinks: he became sexually obsessed with Margaret Schroeder (Kelly MacDonald), took up with Nucky’s ex Lucy Danziger (Paz de la Huerta), he started taking bribes and then murdered his own partner. After being a background player in Season 3, he became an underling for mobsters Dean O’Bannion (Arron Shiver) and then Al Capone (Stephen Graham) in Season 4. In short, Van Alden had fallen hard from the state of grace (or supposed one) that we first saw him in in Season 1.
“Devil You Know” finds Van Alden at a crossroads — he must (under penalty of the law) help the FBI seize the ledgers of Al Capone. Of course if this goes wrong, he will most likely be brutally murdered at the hands of “The Big Boy.” Throughout the entire “robbery” and the ensuing interrogation by The Capones and undercover fed Mike D’Angelo (Louis Cancelmi), we start to see a less beaten-down Van Alden as we have the past two plus season. Instead, he knows his impending death is upon him, so he decides to meet it with his wry sarcasm. Then, when asked what he had to say for himself, with a gun pointed at his head — Van Alden jumped Capone, screaming his true identity (as a Treasury agent) and invoking the name of God saying he would bring Capone to justice. Then, the shock, half of his face is blown off by Mike D’Angelo.
The aforementioned “redemption” comes from both a spiritual and character development standpoint. From the spiritual side, Van Alden (seemingly) realizes that he’s toast and decides that he will solve what seems to be an unsolvable situation (getting the ledgers from Capone). So, for the sake of justice, he creates a distraction and sacrifices himself. After all the hyperbole and blowhard-ed talk about doing the right thing, it seems, for once, that Van Alden has done the right thing. His death allows for the feds to get the Capone ledgers, which send the notorious gangster to jail.
From a character development standpoint, it was great to see this once dynamic character, maligned by misuse for two seasons, have the chance to go out on top. His death was a callback to his sanctimonious “big bad” from Seasons 1 and 2 and it was really the only way his character could go out. Prior to his death, the writers also allowed Van Alden to ditch his subservient fool persona and be more explosive and cutting. Sure, he still was under the thumb of his wife — but when wasn’t he ruled by a woman in this series (outside of his first wife)? Michael Shannon was brilliant in this role and his final moments of wry sarcasm and fire-and-brimstone passion were pitch perfect.
Story #2: Chalk White and The Songbird
Michael Kenneth Williams knows how to do two things — how to have a glorious television death and how to to make a murderous criminal a fan favorite. MKW did this perfectly as the inner city Robin Hood, Omar Little in The Wire and he’s done it on Boardwalk as well. Let’s be real for a second, Chalky White is a terrible human being. He’s murdered countless people, he’s a thief, a bootlegger, he’s a philanderer and he’s the reason his daughter is dead. No two ways about it — he’s the worst. But, there’s something about the way Michael Kenneth Williams portrays him that makes you like Chalky. You enjoy his presence on screen, you root for him in all situations and tonight, you didn’t want to see him die.
Unlike Van Alden’s death, Chalky’s death was more overtly heroic and glorious. Throughout the episode it seemed as though his motive was to solely kill Narcisse, but when he heard the sweet sounds of Daughter’s voice on record, it all changed. When he tells her, prior to the record, that he forgot what she sounded like, that he made her up — he was speaking to their love which was embodied by her music. Once he heard the music again, he realized all his feelings for her were true, passionate feelings and that he must sacrifice himself in order to keep her and (who we presume is) his daughter to be keep away from “men like himself.”
For a moment, Boardwalk had you convinced that Narcisse was going to employ Chalky to help him fight Luciano. And it makes sense. Who better than the king of bad asses to help you out in a turf war? Then, in the alley, as Narcisse walks off and Chalky doesn’t, we know this is the end. Chalky, like a true tough guy, nods and accepts his fate. He closes his eyes and hears Daughter’s voice — he knows he’s done right and that he did this for the truest reason one can give for sacrificing themselves for — love.
Much like Richard Harrow last season (whose death came while doing something terrible), we’re totally gutted at the death of Chalky. Yes, he is a terrible person, but there’s redemption in his death. He’s not face down in an alley because of a gang war or a deal gone bad. No, he’s dead to ensure the safety and welfare of those he loves. It’s a poetic death, scored beautiful by the music of the one he loves.
The rest of the episode was perfectly fine, but it was these two major events that fueled the episode and made it absolutely awesome.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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Bill Bodkin is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. He can be read weekly on Trailer Tuesday and Singles Party, weekly reviews on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Hannibal, Law & Order: SVU and regular contributions throughout the week with reviews and interviews. His goal is to write 500 stories this year. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English and currently works in the world of political polling. He’s the reason there’s so much wrestling on the site and is beyond excited to be a Dad this coming December. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom
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